Hello, world! This blog began on September 28, 2007, and so far nobody has come looking for me with tar and feathers.
On my honor, I will do my best not to bore you. All comments are welcome as long as your discourse is civil and your language is not blue.

不管黑猫白猫,能捉老鼠就是好猫 (Translation: “It does not matter whether the cat is black or white; as long as it catches the mouse, it is a good cat.”) -- commenting on whether China should turn to capitalism or remain strictly in adherence with the economic ideologies of communism, and

摸着石頭過河 (Translation: “Wading across a river by feeling the rocks.”) -- referring to the fact that China had absolutely no experience with modern capitalism, and

小朋友不聴話,該打打屁股了 (Translation: “It’s time to smack the bottom of unruly little children.”) -- while talking to president Jimmy Carter during his [Deng’s] brief visit to the United States, thereby informing the USA that China was ready to go to war with Vietnam.

One can only trust (a) that the swine flu has nothing to do with swine and (b) that Deng Xiaoping was referring to Vietnam and not to Jimmy Carter.

9 comments:

I, myself, am dining on pork chops, bacon, pork roast, and hog jowls (not all in the same meal, of course... but I guess it would be possible)in support of the pork producers. In the meantime, I am avoiding children with runny noses, and will speak harshly to anyone who sneezes or coughs without covering his/her mouth, and wash my hands thoroughly after any contact with the outside world.

Thanks for the links to the flu info. I'm stealing one to add to my post. Yeah, hog farmers in Iowa are not happy about the name "swine flu", either.

I was thinking of Jimmy Carter earlier this morning as I recalled getting a "swine flu" shot back in the 70's. It must have occurred around election time when Gerald Ford lost. I still remember standing in line at the high school to get the shot.

As you know I am fluent in Cantonese and the given translations are utterly and completely wrong! The first statement by Deng Xiaoping should actually read "Shit! I knew I should have put on new underpants this morning" and the second one means this "Not only is this guy a peanut farmer, he smells like one too" and the third line is this "But through it all when there was doubt, I ate it up and spat it out". Honestly Mr Brague -you should check your content more carefully before posting it!

Pat in Arkansas - You send a mixed message. I'd say you like to live dangerously, and yet you don't like to live dangerously. Yes?

Jeannelle - Ah, yes, the seventies! Can anyone say Spiro Agnew?

Putz - I think you missed the point, perhaps?

Dr. John - I am especially fond of the one based on "E pluribus unum."

Yorkshire Pudding - I am forever in your debt for your remarkable ability and willingness to translate from the Cantonese. Perhaps it is time for you to leave the British education system once and for all and move to the U.S., as with every day that passes we are more and more in need of your services.

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About me

has lived on earth for 76 years and has been married for 54 of those years to Ellie, his wife. They have two sons, one daughter, the appropriate assortment of in-laws, and six absolutely magnificent grandchildren. He enjoys reading, playing the piano, driving in the country, sitting by the ocean, watching birds fly, gazing into a roaring fire, holding his wife's hand, and spending time with his grandchildren. He doesn't fancy doing yard work, walking a dog who definitely is not in the mood, or cleaning up after one who is (RIP Jethro, 2004-2013).

Me, circa 2010 (with Mrs. RWP)

A reader in Oregon has requested a current photograph. For the thick of skull, I want to say that I am not exceedingly tall nor is Mrs. RWP exceedingly short. She is sitting in a chair; I am standing behind her and slightly to her right, your left. I am nothing if not thorough. Handsome and thorough. Exceedingly intelligent, very handsome, and thorough. I forgot humble.

Me, circa 1943

A few months before this photograph was taken, I fell through a hole in a chain link fence in New York City and landed on my head on a school’s cement playground that was six feet below sidewalk level. I had a brain concussion. Some people think this helps explain why I am the way I am today. Other people insist nothing can explain why I am the way I am today.

Poem by a Yorkshire Lad

Song for Lost Youth

Perhaps I should have cradled it
Like a dove
Kept it safe with tender love
But I squandered it -
Gushing-blundering-raging
Like a wild mountain stream
Desperate for an ocean
That was but a distant dream.
...I just never thought
That I could have loitered in the shallows
Reflecting the blueness of the sky
- Concealing silver fishes
- Quietly biding my time
- Stretching it out.
And so, and so it's gone now
- My ephemeral youth
- That precious once only gift
- That honeyed sweetness,
Leaving only the trembling resonance
Of distant echoes
From half-remembered hills.